Inverted cottoning



April 24, 1962 w. J. MOSES INVERTED COTTONING Filed Aug. 1'7, 1960 INVENTOR WALTER a. MOSES ATTORNEY United States Patent Company, Inc., Fitchburg, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 50,247 Claims. (Cl. 53-115) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for cottoning containers of loose materials as for instance tablets and capsules by wadding the same with predetermined lengths of folded wadding material, and the principal object of the invention resides in providing such lengths in inverted U-shaped form, i.e., means for folding a length of stranded wadding into a U shape, the U being inverted, and means for then insertingthe inverted U-shaped wadding material into the neck of the container to spread above the container contents with the open end of the U being inserted first, the closed end of the U entering the container last, and in this way avoiding the prior art difiiculty of allowing small fibrous ends of cotton to extend out over the lip of the mouth of the bottle, interfering with subsequent closing operations, sealing, etc.

The present invention also contemplates the provision of a machine including means for measuring a predetermined length of cotton from a cotton strand supply, severing such predetermined length, then providing a laterally extending finger mounted on a plate, said plate impinging upon the cotton just as it is being cut from the supply, and moving the same laterally against a stop plate, at the same time a tubular member descends onto the cotton and folds it over the laterally extending finger, there being a slot in said tubular member to receive the finger and provide for the action, the finger then gradually retracting from said slot back to its original position, leaving the inverted U folded length of cotton in the tube, there being then a plunger which descends through the tube after the finger has been removed and expels the inverted U-shaped cotton wadding into the neck of a container which may be located just below the tubular member and in substantial alignment or in substantial contact therewith, the tubular member holding the cotton wadding while it is pushed into the neck of a bottle and spread above the loose articles therein for the common purposes of wadding in general but without the difficulties encountered when the cotton is entered into the container in the usual upright U-shaped form which may be exemplified for instance in Patent No. 2,269,722 and in Patent No. 2,895,269.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of apparatus for carrying out the present invention, parts being in section;

FIG. 2 is a partial front view thereof looking in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view similar to that of FIG. 1 with parts removed and showing the tube in its lowermost position relative to the container to be wadded; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section showing the lower end of the plunger and tube in relation to the container.

In carrying out the present invention, in general the same contemplates a type of machine which is provided with means to feed a continuous strip of the fibrous cottoning material in intermittent steps, spreading the same generally centrally of the cottoning or wadding station, providing means acting in timed relation to sever the leading end of the strip in this position, and including means to move the strip against a positioning plate. The novel 3,636,748 Patented Apr. 24, 1962 portion of the device includes a finger or peg which holds the severed strip centrally thereof While a slotted tube descends folding the strip into an inverted U over said finger or pin, said tube then descending further to contact or at least become aligned withe the neck of a bottle which is to be wadded, the finger retracting to its original position, and a plunger then extending down through the tube, expelling the inverted U-shaped wadding material into the bottle. All of the various motions are accomplished by means of a main cam or crank shaft and it will be understood that the motions are provided in timed relationship by the timing of the rotation of the main shaft and of the shapes of the cams, and as an example of this attention is directed to US. Patent No. 2,895,269, and only so much of the mechanism as is necessary to carry out the present invention is disclosed herein.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown an upright guide rod 10 mounted in any way desired on the frame of the machine as at 12, the latter also mounting abutment plate 14 in laterally adjustable position by means of a pin 16 which may be fixed in adjustable but clamped position on a bracket 18. The guide rod 10 has mounted on it a guided reciprocal sleeve 20 which mounts by means of a bracket or the like 22 a tube 24 arranged vertically over a line of bottles, these containers being indicated by the reference character A. The tube is provided with a longitudinal slot 26 and the sleeve 20 may be operated up-and-down in timed relation by means of a cam shaft or the like as at 28, the details of the actuation thereof being omitted for the sake of clarity but involving any kind of lever, etc., as may be required.

A plunger 30 is slidably mounted within the slotted tube 24 and is mounted on a bracket or the like 32 which again is mounted for up-and-down movement in timed relation to the tube by means of a connection from the main shaft 28, the details of which are also omitted for clarity of illustration.

An arm 34 is swingably mounted by any means desired as from a lever or the like 36 actuated by a crank or a cam 38 motivated by the shaft 2% whereby the arm moves between the dotted line and solid line positions in FIG. 1. This arm mounts at its lower end a bracket or the like 40 and thi in turn carries a channelshaped member 42, the flanges of the channels being indicated at 44. The reference numeral 46 indicates a conventional cut-off knife again operated by means not shown in timed relation relative to the feeding of the cottoning wadding which is indicated by the reference numeral B, the cut end being indicated at C, FIG. 2.

In the operation of the device, the cotton advances in a long strand coming from a supply in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, being gripped by a well known gripping means utilized in the prior art and is brought to a position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 generally indicated at 50 where it is centered with relation to the pin 48 on the plate 42, this pin being of course aligned vertically with the slot 26 in the tube 24.

At this instant, the knife 46 cuts off the cut member at C while it is centered over the pin 48 on the plate 42 and at this instant the plate 42 is moved to the right in FIG. 1 full line position, and the forward edges of the flanges 44 thereof may carry the cut strands to a position against the plate 14 where it is stopped, whereupon again in timed relation the tube 24 descends with the plunger 30 being left behind. As shown in FIG. 3 this folds the cut piece down to the U-shaped relationship shown at D in dotted lines FIG. 2 and the inverted U-shaped wadding is thus housed in position within the tubular member 24.

At this point the plate 42 is gradually retracted carrying finger 48 from out of the top end of the slot 26 to 3 the dotted line position shown in FIG. 3, the tube 24 being in its lowermost position in alignment with the neck of the bottle A. At this point, plunger 30 descends, pushing the inverted U-shaped cottoning wadding out of the tube and the neck of the bottle, FIG. 4, where it spreads over the contents thereof as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Then the tube and the plunger retract to the solid line position of FIG. 1 and the operation is repeated, a new bottle A now being located under the tube 24.

By utilizing the inverted U-shaped wadding the former difficulty of fibers lying on the mouth or rim of the bottle is obviated and it is believed that the objects of the invention have clearly been accomplished by the mechanism above stated and the very simple efiective means for inverted cottoning of containers has been presented herewith.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. Apparatus for wadding containers comprising a reciprocating tubular member having a longitudinal slot therein, means for positioning a predetermined length of wadding relative to the tube, a finger, means mounting the finger for motion laterally to and from the path of the tube, said finger having a position directly in the path of'the tube and the slot while the tube is in one position, means causing said tube to descend relatively with respect to said finger and thus folding over the predetermined length of cotton wadding, the finger holding the cotton wadding in the tube as the tube is folding the same, means for expelling the resultant inverted U-shaped wad from said tube into the neck of a bottle located below the tube, and means laterally moving the finger from said position in timed relation to the motion of the tube and the wad expelling means with the tube in its down position ready for the expulsion of the folded wad and just prior to the expelling action of the wad expelling means.

2. A cottoning machine comprising a source of stranded cottoning material, means for severing a predetermined length therefrom, means for positioning said length in general horizontal position in a predetermined location, a plate, a second plate, means relatively moving said second plate toward the first plate, the predetermined position of the severed cotton wadding being between the plates so that the plates locate and position the cotton wadding, a pin on the second-named plate engaging the under side of the cotton wadding, a tube, means to move said tube vertically, said tube having an open lower end and a slot extending from said open lower end upwardly, said tube moving downwardly over said predetermined length of wadding and over said pin, the pin riding in the slot and the tube and the pin causing the cottoning material to be folded into an inverted U shape in the tube, means withdrawing the pin through the slot, and means for expelling the inverted U cottoning material into the neck of a bottle held in alignment with the lower open end of said tube.

3. A cottoning machine as recited in claim 2 wherein said expelling means includes a plunger reciprocably mounted with respect to said tube and entered within the same.

4. A cottoning machine comprising a source of stranded cottoning material, means for severing a predetermined length therefrom, means for positioning said length in general horizontal position in a predetermined location, a plate, a second plate, means relatively moving said second plate toward the first plate, the predetermined position of the severed cotton wadding beingbetween the plates so that the plates locate and position the cotton wadding, a pin on the second-named plate engaging the under side of the cotton wadding, a tube, means supporting and holding the tube against any but vertical motion, means to move said tube vertically, said tube having an open lower end and a slot extending from said open lower end upwardly, said tube moving downwardly over said predetermined length of wadding and over said pin, the pin riding in the slot and the tube and the pin causing the cottoning material to be folded into an inverted U shape in the tube, means for expelling the inverted U cottoning material into the neck of a bottle held in alignment with the lower open end of said tube,

. and means causing return of the tube, the last-named means and the second-named plate to original position. 5. A cottoning machine as recited in claim 4 including flanges 0n the second-named plate, said flanges being generally vertical and engaging the wadding by their edges.

Dimond Sept. 10, 1957 Dimond Dec. 31, 1957 

